"I think [cats] are easier to anthropomorphise and harder to herd," said Plymouth University Professor Susan Blackmore, author of The Meme Machine, in an interview with website knowyourmeme.com on the reason why cats are such an internet hit.

"There's something secretive about them. When I was a child I used to imagine that all our local cats met up every night after dark to plot schemes against the grown-ups... One would never imagine this of dogs."